Charges have been filed against three juveniles from Federal Way who were involved in a recent multi-city crime spree over the course of about a week.
The crime spree involved at least one car theft as well as multiple vehicle break-ins and damage. The teen girls have also been linked to a robbery in Federal Way.
The girls are ages 13, 14 and 16. At least one more individual is also believed to have been involved, according to police statements in the charging documents, but has not been named. The Kent Reporter does not name minors unless they have been charged as adults.
On Jan. 25 at approximately 10:15 p.m., a Bellevue Police officer responded to a motor vehicle prowl that included two vehicles whose windows had been smashed.
Footage from the individual’s home surveillance camera showed three suspects who appeared to be juvenile females wearing matching pajama pants. After breaking the windows of the vehicles, they fled in a blue Hyundai Accent.
Pictures of the suspects were shared with the rest of the police department, and the vehicle was identified as being stolen to the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office. The blue Hyundai had been stolen sometime during the night of Jan. 20 or the morning of Jan. 21 from Puyallup.
A database search by police showed that the vehicle was linked to a robbery case on Jan. 25 in Federal Way where individuals had allegedly stolen several bottles of liquor. The next day, an officer from the Federal Way Police Department discovered the plates from the blue Hyundai in a flower bed at an apartment complex in Federal Way.
On Jan. 27, a man called the Bellevue police to identify his daughter as one of the individuals reportedly in footage of the vehicle break-ins. He told them that his pastor had seen footage of the Bellevue robberies on the news and recognized his daughter. The father then reportedly identified the other two individuals as friends of his daughter.
Two days later, Federal Way police officers recovered the blue Hyundai on the side of the road, damaged and missing license plates. The dump site was only a mile or so from where suspects were later arrested later that day.
The 13-year-old and 14-year-old were also identified as being involved in the Federal Way robbery on Jan. 25 via security footage.
The father of the 13-year-old who initially made the identification said that he has been “doing his best” with her and has been “trying to constantly track her down so she doesn’t get into more trouble than she already is,” according to charging documents. He also said that he has been “aware of her crime streak the last week or so, involving crimes in Tacoma, Auburn, Kent, Bellevue and Federal Way.”
The charges that have been filed for the three individuals include: taking a motor vehicle without permission in the second degree (class C felony), malicious mischief in the second degree (physical damage), vehicle prowl in the second degree.
The suspects have all had their first appearance hearing and their cases are all being tried through traditional prosecution, not diversion. They are currently being held at the juvenile detention center in Seattle.
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